Hikers

The view from my secret vantage point

What better way to usher in the month of May than to hike to hidden waterfalls with plein air painters? I shinnied up trees, scaled boulders, and shuffled up scree slides just so I could spy on my friends from above. I watched handfuls of hikers take in the view and they inevitably took pictures of the artists and their easels the minute they noticed them. No one saw me hiding like a mountain goat behind boulders above. That made me feel downright giddy like a 12 year-old. "They can't see me!" I thought to myself, as I started to observe the varied hikers and the range of clothing styles they selected for their adventures.


Hikers

some folks must wear brighter colors
so that search parties can find them
if they veer feet off the trailways

others bravely don their khakis
covered up against mosquitos
blending in with their horizons
futures dressed just like their pasts
stick steadfastly to their guidebooks

An undisclosed waterfall

writing notes within their margins
taking pictures, leaving breadcrumbs
so they never will go missing

Some go naked, skinny-dipping
in the pools of icy water
playing like they never crawled out
on four feet from underwaters
to the banks of land and airstreams
they imagine they are fishes
flopping, flapping out of rapids
rushing, crashing further downstream

Not bad for a morning's work